I hate to weigh in on issues that are so volatile to some people. I get the impression that there are a few persons who have an real (almost pathological) hatred against Brett Shundler but here goes.

We moved to Jersey City in the late 1970's and downtown in 1984 and things were very different back then. My husband and I are what some folks later called "yuppies" but as a stay home Mom ( free lance illustrator) and exporter we certainly never considered ourselves to be white collar, high income people. We have lived in Jersey City for quite a while here, but are still call the "new family" by one of our neighborhs.

We are not particularly politically involved people, both registered democrats but we have never had much interest in politics, national or local. When we first moved to town I found out that things in our city didnt always work the way we expected. In fact My husband said that he was told things were "not on the level" in describing local government and city politics.
that being said, when we first moved downtown I was frustrated in my attempts to get basic city services in response to simple requests. My neighbors kindly told me that the only way to get things done was to go to our committeewoman and "make nice". that was translated as my husband and I pledging to support "the administration". they explained that if we were "on the team" that they, (the committee folks and council person) would make sure that things got done.

Well, things went on for a while and our family grew, we bought a house and moved downtown and sooner after that our home was reassesed and our taxes raised. I saw a flyer about a meeting of block associations and went to try and find out what relief we could get from the sudden increase.

Brett was there and spoke briefly. Later there was another election and Brett was on the ballot. My husband I voted for him. We have met Brett I think three times since and spoken to him briefly once. I dont really know him (or any other politician) and like I say am not originally from Jersey City, I can say this though.

Things seemed to be better when he was mayor.
We saw more police in our neighborhood, our taxes were pretty stable and my impression is that the mayor was trying to run the city well.

most of our neighbors felt the same way. the fact that Brett is/was a republican was never a factor in deciding to vote for him. my husband asked me "why is it that whenever any politicial runs for a higher office, nobody has a complaint, but when mayor Shundler ran for governor he was attacked. Also I remember signs all over the neighborhood saying that he was just using Jersey City as a "stepping stone" and would move on. I dont know, did he he move away and has since moved back?

the only other thing I know about this is that one of the things our family liked about Brett was the subject of charter schools. When we first heard about charter schools, it seemed like everyone was against them, now everyone likes them. Our kids were in school in Jersey City and briefly attended one of the first charter schools that opened. Now our friends in Ocean County all talk about the new charter schools in their towns.

Like I said, I am not political, but our impression is that Shundler was a pretty good mayor who did some good things. In the past few years it seems like things have not gone as well.

just my two cents.